To a New Day
by DinoDina
Summary: Katie's in Diagon Alley, buying a new broom - what she doesn't know is that her day is about to get even better. Katie/Marcus oneshot. Written for QLFC.


**Written for QLFC Round 9  
Team: **Wigtown Wanderers  
 **Position:** Beater 2  
 **Prompt:** write a story about a known Quidditch player; Beater's Bat: Write about a bully  
 **Additional Prompts:** 12\. (dialogue) "If I was a foot taller, would it have made a difference?", 14. (colour) lime green  
 **Word Count:** 1608

 **Thanks to Lynne and Aelys for betaing!**

Katie lowered her hand, no longer waving at Alicia and Angelina, who had turned their backs and were walking to the Leaky Cauldron. She continue to Quality Quidditch Supplies, where she was to pick up her new broom.

She was excited, because it not only meant her new position on the Wigtown Wanderers team, but the end of an oath of loneliness. With the broom, she would finally be free to ask her best friend out, to start a relationship she'd been delaying for the sake of practicality. She could hardly wait.

She wanted to get to the store soon, as the sooner she'd get to practice, the better she would play in a week's time. Carrying her bag in one hand and idly swinging her other by her side, Katie walked to the store at a leisurely pace.

She was almost at the door when she heard a cry from the side street. It was one of distress. They had long since entered a time of peace—over five years had passed since the war—but Katie drew her wand and hastened nearer, vigilant just in case.

But it wasn't a Dark wizard that waited for her in the dark alley, Death Eater mask stark against the shadowed bricks, but children. Ordinary children, six of them about fourteen years old and one much younger than school age.

"Let her go!" Katie yelled. They weren't evil, but they looked malicious, the little girl pressed against the filthy prick wall and held her doll protectively to her chest.

The six boys spun to Katie abruptly, took a step back,though not far away enough for the girl to escape, and scrutinized her.

"Who are you, her grandma?" one of them said with a cackling laugh.

"No, I'm just a decent human being," Katie said harshly. She knew what it was like to be outnumbered, and there was no way in hell she was going to be minding her own business in the matter.

"Go back to your boyfriend!" another boy yelled, then laughed. "If you have one."

"Leave her alone," Katie repeated, ignoring the jeers. She noted now that all six boys were wearing Slytherin colors, and that the girl looked confused and scared.

"Or what?"

"Or nothing." She got ready for defense, just in case, but no one moved. " _Leave her alone_."

They all looked at her strangely. The girl inched closer to her along the wall. Katie fingered her wand but didn't prepare to use it.

There was a tense silence.

Finally, the biggest of the boys laughed. After a second, his cronies began to jeer, too.

"Get lost!" he spat at the little girl, and leered at Katie. "We've got something better."

The girl scurried away to hide behind her, and though Katie wanted to get her to a safer place, there wasn't time or opportunity. She stood defiantly as the boys began to advance, though they didn't try to surround them or block the way out of the alley; they were brutish, but inexperienced. Though they were all larger than Katie, she knew she could take them. She had superior magic and a lifetime's experience of fighting bullies and Dark wizards.

"Scared yet?" the leader sneered.

She scoffed. "No."

"Maybe not," he allowed. "You seem kind of stupid, as well as weak. But… if I were a foot taller, would it have made a difference? Would you have cowered at the very beginning, or just started to now—"

"Believe me, your height has nothing to do with it," a strong voice suddenly interjected, sounding both bored and incredibly angry.

The boys all stared to the alley's entrance, but Katie could recognize the voice anywhere: her own bully of long ago, Marcus Flint, who had surprised her so many years ago. And surprised her now, too.

The boys were all staring at him defiantly, but Marcus was much bigger than them, and scary even when he didn't mean to be. Now his goal was clear: _Stop, or you'll regret this_.

A pause, and Katie briefly wondered if they would all come to blows. But then the boys seemed to realize what was best for them and fled, glowering and closed-lipped. The three of them, the little girl pressed close to Katie but curiously leaning towards Marcus, watched them go.

"You could have handled them," Marcus said after a moment. "I just wanted to speed it along. Heard something, and I saw them earlier this week in Knockturn Alley, so I thought they might be up to some sort of mischief."

"Thanks," Katie said, and the little girl nodded bashfully.

"Now," both Katie and Marcus said, looking away from each other and kneeling in front of her. "What's your name?"

"Matilda Ernshaw," she said, rubbing the doll's lime green dress between her fingers nervously. "I was here with Hagrid and my parents because they were looking for stuff for my older sister, but I was looking around so much, I lost sight of them, and then I saw those boys, and they started teasing me, so I ran in here to hide, but they followed me and I couldn't get away—" She took a deep breath, then her eyes glowed with childlike curiosity. "What's a Mudblood? I know it's not a very nice word, but it's fine if I know what people are calling me and my sister, right?"

"It's a very nasty name for someone whose parents aren't a witch or wizard, and those boys think they're better than you because their parents _are_ magical. But don't pay them any attention." Marcus smiled encouragingly. "Sometimes they don't change their minds as they grow up, but sometimes they do, and it's important to keep your head high and ignore them, because they're either misinformed or hurting."

"Or both," Katie added, throwing him a warm look. Their first conversations after the war, after he'd so suddenly gone over to the Light side, came back to her, as well as the many nighttime talks they'd had since. "And know that it means nothing. Some of the best witches and wizards are Muggleborn. Never be ashamed of yourself, your sister, or your parents."

Marcus nodded. "Now, let's find them, yeah?"

The girl nodded and held out her hands to Katie and Marcus, letting them take one each, her doll clutched between her small hand and Marcus's larger one.

The search didn't take long. Hagrid and Matilda's family had been looking high and low for her, and they instantly embraced her when they met on the street, showering Matilda with questions and affections as Hagrid, Katie, and Marcus stood off to the side, before they all departed once more.

Katie began walking towards Quality Quidditch Supplies once more, this time Marcus by her side.

"New broom for the new season with the Wanderers?" he asked, opening the door for her and letting her walk into the shop ahead of him.

"You remembered!" she exclaimed—the broom concerned him as much as her. "And yes, Cleansweep 791. I'm very excited."

"791?" Marcus's eyes widened. "Wow, I'm still on the 788! Hey, first thing after the match, can I go on a spin?"

"Of course." They settled into the long queue to the pick-up desk.

"And I wouldn't forget," Marcus added as an afterthought. "I know how much this means to you."

Katie nodded with a smile. It _was_ important, just like running Little League Quidditch was important to him, teaching children his favorite sport and how to get along with each other despite their differences.

She sighed, the pleasant surprise of their meeting washed away by slightly darker thoughts. She looked up at him. "Was it naive to think I wouldn't see such blatant anti-Muggle bullying after the war?"

"No." He shook his head. "It'll take time, but they'll adjust. The younger kids are already almost completely free of the bigotry, and a lot of the older ones are unlearning it, too. Those kids we saw today will— _I_ did, I just hope they make better choices than I did."

"At their age, maybe," Katie agreed. "But you've been making good choices since right before the war ended, and that can't have been easy."

"It wasn't always, no." Marcus looked at her warmly. "I couldn't have done it without my best friend."

Katie grinned and leaned closer to him. Yes, they _were_ best friends, and it was nice, their old animosity having evolved into an honest and respectful relationship. It was valuable and fun, and Katie loved every bit of it, from supporting each other, to laughing and joking together, to holding each other, to going out every Thursday afternoon, to remembering the good and the bad of their lives, smiling about the former and crying about the latter.

They would stand together just as they stood at the Battle of Hogwarts years ago and in the alley just an hour before, just as they did throughout their daily struggles.

"This broom doesn't just mean a lot 'cause it's a good one," Katie said quietly.

Marcus nodded. "I know."

"And when I buy it…."

"I know." He smiled, bright and carefree. "Excited?"

"Very."

They walked out of the store minutes later, Katie holding the broom and Marcus holding her hand, for this broom had been their last obstacle. Trying to get jobs, an education, overcoming past grudges and discrimination, fixing and building their society… They had been too busy to truly be together, and so had settled for just friendship, but now, the broom, Katie's final action was establishing her practical life, was her first step in establishing her personal life.


End file.
